World History

Chapter 2 Notes

Ms. Litza

Page 1

Name:______

Chapter 2: Western Asia and Egypt—Notes

Section 1: Civilization in Mesopotamia Begins

  • The Impact of Geography
  • Mesopotamia is at the eastern end of the ______, an arc of land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
  • ______(“between the rivers”) is the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
  • These rivers often overflow and leave silt, which makes the soil rich for a flourishing ______economy.
  • Mesopotamian civilization was one of history’s important early civilizations to grow in a river valley.
  • Developing consistent agriculture required controlling the ______supply.
  • People in Mesopotamia, therefore, developed a system of drainage ditches and ______works.
  • The resulting large food supply made possible significant population growth and the emergence of civilization in Mesopotamia.
  • Ancient Mesopotamia covered three general areas: Assyria, Akkad, and ______. Several peoples lived in these areas.
  • Mesopotamian civilization involved many peoples.
  • The ______developed the first Mesopotamian civilization.
  • The City-States of Ancient Mesopotamia
  • By 3000 B.C. the Sumerians had formed a number of ______centered around cities such as Ur and Uruk.
  • These states controlled the surrounding countryside politically and economically.
  • City-states were the basic political unit of the ______civilization.
  • The Sumerians built largely with ______bricks.
  • Using them they invented the ______and the ______and built some of the largest brick buildings in the world.
  • The most important building in each city was the ______.
  • Often it was built on top of a massive stepped tower called a ______.
  • Sumerians believed gods and goddesses owned and ruled the cities.
  • The Sumerian state was a ______, then–a government by divine authority.
  • Priests and priestesses were important figures politically as well as religiously.
  • Eventually, ruling power passed more into the hands of ______, who traced their authority back to the divine.
  • The Sumerian economy was principally agricultural, but ______(metalwork and woolen textiles, for example) and ______were important.
  • The invention of the ______around 3000 B.C. facilitated trade.
  • The Sumerian city-states had three classes: nobles, ______, and slaves.
  • Nobles included the royal ______, royal officials, ______, and their families.
  • Commoners worked for large estates as ______, merchants, ______, and craftspeople
  • Around 90 percent of the people were farmers.
  • ______principally worked on large building projects, wove cloth, and worked the farms of the nobles.
  • Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
  • The ______lived north of the Sumerian city-states.
  • The Akkadians are called a ______people because they spoke a Semitic language.
  • Around 2340 B.C., the leader of the Akkadians, ______, conquered the Sumerian city-states and set up the world’s first empire.
  • An______is a large political unit that controls many peoples and territories.
  • In 1792 B.C., ______of Babylon, a city-state south of Akkad, established a new empire over much of both Akkad and Sumer.
  • The Code of Hammurabi
  • The ______of Hammurabi is one of the world’s most important early systems of ______.
  • It calls for harsh punishments against criminals.
  • The principle of ______(“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”) is fundamental in Hammurabi’s code.
  • Punishments varied according to ______.
  • A crime committed against a ______brought a harsher punishment than the same crime committed against a commoner.
  • Hammurabi’s code punished public ______who failed in their duties or were ______.
  • It also had what we would call ______, for example, holding builders responsible for the quality of their work.
  • If a building collapsed and killed someone, the builder was executed
  • Damages had to be paid to people injured.
  • The largest group of laws in the code covered marriage and the family.
  • Parents______marriages, and the bride and groom had to sign a marriage contract to be officially married.
  • Hammurabi’s code expresses the ______nature of Mesopotamian society.
  • Women had fewer privileges and rights than men.
  • The code also enforced ______of children to parents.
  • A father could cut off the hand of a son who had hit him, for example.
  • The Importance of Religion
  • Due to the harsh physical environment and famines, Mesopotamians believed that the world was controlled by often destructive ______forces and deities.
  • The Mesopotamians were ______because they believed in many gods and goddesses.
  • They identified three thousand of them.
  • Human beings were to ______and ______the gods and goddesses.
  • Sumerians believed that human beings were created to do the ______labor the gods and goddesses were not willing to do.
  • As inferior beings, people could never be sure what the deities might do to ______or ______them.
  • The Creativity of the Sumerians
  • The Sumerians were important ______.
  • They created a system of writing called ______(“wedge-shaped”).
  • They used a ______stylus to make wedge- shaped markings on clay tablets, which were then baked in the sun.
  • Writing was used for record keeping, ______, and law.
  • A new class of ______(writers and copyists) arose.
  • Being a scribe was the key to a successful career for an______-class Mesopotamian boy.
  • ______also passed on cultural knowledge from generation to generation, sometimes in new ways.
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh, the most important piece of Mesopotamian ______, teaches the lesson that only the gods are immortal.
  • Gilgamesh is wise and strong, a being who is part ______and part ______.
  • Gilgamesh befriends a hairy beast named ______.
  • When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh feels the pain of his friend’s death, and he searches for the secret of ______.
  • He fails.
  • The Sumerians invented important technologies, such as the wagon wheel.
  • In mathematics they invented a number system based on 60, and they made advances in applying ______to engineering.
  • In astronomy, the Sumerians charted the ______using their number system of 60.

Section 2: Egyptian Civilization: “The Gift of the Nile”

  • The Impact of Geography
  • Running over ______miles, the Nile is the longest river in the world.
  • It begins in the heart of Africa and runs ______to the Mediterranean.
  • The northern part is called ______Egypt and the southern part is called ______Egypt.
  • The most important fact about the ______is that it floods each year, enriching the soil around it
  • The ______of food Egyptian farmers could grow in this fertile soil made Egypt prosperous.
  • The Nile also served as a great ______that enhanced transportation and communication.
  • In these ways the Nile was a______influence on Egypt.
  • Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt had geographical barriers that protected it from invasion: the ______to the west and east, the Red Sea to the ______, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and rapids in the southern Nile.
  • Geography gave the Egyptians a sense of ______and added to the noteworthy continuity of Egyptian civilization for thousands of years.
  • The Importance of Religion
  • Religion gave the Egyptians a sense of security and timelessness.
  • The Egyptians were also ______.
  • Two groups of gods–the ______gods and ______gods–were especially important.
  • The sun was worshipped as the source of ______.
  • The sun god was named Atum or Re.
  • The Egyptian ______was called Son of Re, the sun god in earthly form.
  • Two important river and land gods were ______and ______. They were husband and wife.
  • Isis brought Osiris back to life after his brother, ______, had cut up his body into 14 pieces.
  • Osiris had an important role as a symbol of ______, whether after physical death or through the rebirth of the land when flooded by the Nile.
  • Isis’s bringing together the parts of Osiris’s body each spring symbolized the ______that the floods brought.
  • The Course of Egyptian History
  • Historians divide Egyptian history into ______major periods of stability, peace, and cultural flourishing: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom.
  • Periods of upheaval fell between them.
  • Egyptian history began around 3100 B.C. when ______created the first royal dynasty in Egypt.
  • A ______is a family of rulers. Their right to rule is passed on through the family.
  • The Old Kingdom lasted from 2700 to 2200 B.C.
  • Egyptian rulers became known as ______.
  • Pharaoh means “great house” or “palace.”
  • Egyptian pharaohs had absolute power.
  • However, they were aided first by their families and then by a large ______– an administrative organization of officials and regular procedures–that developed during the Old Kingdom.
  • The ______(“steward of the whole land”) held the most important position next to the pharaoh.
  • The vizier ______the bureaucracy and reported directly to the pharaoh.
  • Egypt was divided into ______provinces, each with its own governor.
  • The______were built during the Old Kingdom.
  • They served as ______for the pharaohs and their families.
  • They contained ______, weapons, artwork, and household goods for the person in the ______.
  • Egyptians believed that a person’s spiritual body (_____) could survive the death of the physical body if the physical body were properly preserved through mummification.
  • In ______a body was slowly dried to keep it from rotting. It was done in workshops that priests ran for wealthy families.
  • Workers would first remove certain internal ______, placing them in ______special jars put in the tomb with the mummy.
  • They also removed the ______through the ______.
  • Then the body was covered with ______to absorb moisture.
  • Later, workers filled the body with spices and wrapped it in resin-soaked linen.
  • This process took about ______days.
  • Then a lifelike mask of the deceased was placed over the head and shoulders of the mummy.
  • Finally, the mummy was ______in a case and placed in its tomb.
  • The mummy of ______the Great has remained intact for 3,000 years.
  • Symbols of Osiris decorate his coffin.
  • The largest ______was for King Khufu, built around 2540 B.C. in Giza. It covers 13 acres.
  • Historians are still amazed at the builders’ precision.
  • Huge stones are fitted so closely that a hair cannot be pushed between them.
  • The Great Sphinx is also at Giza.
  • It has the body of a ______and head of a ______; some historians believe it is there to guard the sacred site.
  • The Middle Kingdom was between 2050 and 1652 B.C. Egyptians later portrayed this time as a ______age.
  • Egypt expanded into ______, and trade reached into Mesopotamia and Crete.
  • The pharaohs had a new concern for the people during the Middle Kingdom.
  • The pharaoh was now portrayed as a ______of the people.
  • He was expected to build public works and provide for the people’s welfare.
  • ______was drained and a new canal connected the Nile River and the Red Sea.
  • Invasion by the ______people of Western Asia ended the Middle Kingdom.
  • Egyptians learned to use ______and horse-drawn war chariots from the Hyksos.
  • The New Kingdom lasted from 1567 to 1085 B.C.
  • During this period Egypt created an______.
  • The New Kingdom pharaohs were tremendously wealthy.
  • The first female pharaoh, ______, and others built fabulous temples. Hers is at Deir el Bahri, near Thebes.
  • Akhenaton tried to make Egyptians ______and worship only the sun god.
  • Many believed this change would upset the cosmic order and ______Egypt.
  • After Akhenaton’s death, the boy-pharaoh ______restored the old gods and polytheism.
  • ______religious reforms caused upheavals that led the Egyptians to lose their empire.
  • ______, who reigned from 1279 to 1213 B.C., regained some of the empire.
  • New invasions by the “Sea Peoples” then ended the Egyptian Empire once and for all. The New Kingdom collapsed in 1085 B.C.
  • For the next ______years, Libyans, Nubians, Persians, and Macedonians dominated Egypt.
  • The pharaoh ______unsuccessfully tried to reassert Egypt’s independence.
  • Her alliance with ______brought defeat, her suicide, and Roman rule over Egypt.
  • Society in Ancient Egypt and Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
  • Egyptian society was organized like a pyramid.
  • The ______was at the top.
  • He was surrounded by a ruling class of ______and ______.
  • They ran the government and managed their extensive land and wealth.
  • The next class was made up of ______and artisans.
  • Below them was a class of ______, who usually worked land held by the upper class, and provided revenues, military service, and forced labor for the state.
  • Egyptians married young.
  • The husband was the ______, but the wife ran the household and educated the ______.
  • Women kept their ______, even in marriage.
  • Marriages could end in ______, which included compensation for the women.
  • Some women were merchants, priestesses, and even pharaohs.
  • Parents arranged marriages.
  • Their chief concerns were ______and ______.
  • However, remaining Egyptian poetry and advice books suggest that romance and caring were important parts of Egyptian marriages.
  • Writing and Education and Achievements in Art and Science
  • Writing emerged in Egypt around 3000 B.C. Egyptians used a system called ______(“priest-carvings”), which used pictures and abstract forms.
  • Later, Egyptians used a simplified version called hieratic script.
  • Hieratic script was written on ______.
  • Hieratic script was used for record keeping, business transactions, and the general needs of daily life.
  • Because of these tasks, the class of ______was very important in Egypt.
  • Upper-class boys trained to be scribes from age______
  • The training took many years.
  • Pyramids, temples, and other monuments show the architectural and artistic achievements of the Egyptians.
  • Artists followed a distinctive style.
  • For example, human bodies were shown as a combination of profile, semiprofile, and frontal views to get an accurate picture.
  • For their monumental building projects and their vital surveys of flooded land, Egyptians made important advances in geometry. They calculated______and volume.
  • Because of mummification, Egyptians became experts in human ______.
  • Archaeologists have discovered directions from Egyptian ______about using splints, bandages, and compresses for treating fractures and wounds.
  • Other ancient ______acquired medical knowledge from the Egyptians.

Section 3: New Centers of Civilization

  • The Role of Nomadic Peoples
  • Another ancient civilization flourished in central ______around 4,000 years ago in what are now Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
  • These people built mud-brick buildings, used ______tools, built irrigation works, and probably had ______.
  • Pastoral nomads lived on the______of these civilizations.
  • These groups ______and gathered, did small ______, and domesticated animals.
  • They moved along regular routes to pasture their animals.
  • Sometimes they ______settled communities and established ______.
  • One of the most important groups of pastoral nomads was the ______.
  • The term Indo-European refers to peoples who spoke languages derived from the same parent language.
  • Indo-European languages include Greek, ______, Sanskrit, and the ______languages.
  • One Indo-European group melded with natives in ______–modern-day Turkey–to form the Hittite kingdom.
  • Between 1600 and 1200 B.C., the ______created an empire in western Asia.
  • Its capital was Hattusha, in modern Turkey.
  • They were the first Indo-Europeans to use ______.
  • When the Hittite Empire was destroyed, smaller city-states and kingdoms emerged in the area of ______and ______.
  • The Phoenicians
  • The Phoenicians were an important new group in the area of ______.
  • The ______lived on a narrow band of the Mediterranean coast only 120 miles long.
  • After the downfall of the Hittites and the ______, the Phoenicians began to assert their power.
  • That power was based on ______.
  • The Phoenicians were such prominent traders because of their ______and seafaring skills.
  • Trading took the Phoenicians as far as ______and Africa’s west coast.
  • The Phoenicians set up colonies.
  • ______in North Africa is the most famous Phoenician colony.
  • The Phoenicians are most known for their alphabet of______characters, or letters.
  • They could spell out all the words in the Phoenician language.
  • This alphabet was passed on to the ______.
  • The Roman alphabet we use is based on Greek.
  • The “Children of Israel”
  • The______were a Semitic people living in Palestine along the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
  • Some interpretations of archaeological evidence indicate they emerged as a distinct group between 1200 and 1000 B.C.
  • The Israelites soon established a kingdom known as ______.
  • The Israelites were not particularly important ______.
  • The Israelites’ main contribution to history was their religion, ______.
  • Judaism still flourishes as a major religion, and it influenced both ______and ______.
  • The Israelites ruled Palestine. Their capital was ______.
  • King ______, who ruled from 970 to 930 B.C., was Israel’s first great king.
  • Solomon was known for his ______.
  • Most importantly, he built the ______in Jerusalem.
  • The Israelites viewed this temple as the symbolic center of Israel and Judaism.
  • After Solomon, the kingdom divided into ______parts.
  • The Kingdom of Israel was made up of ______tribes.
  • The Kingdom of ______to the south was made up of two tribes.
  • In 772 B.C., the ______conquered and scattered the ten northern tribes of Israel.
  • These “ten lost tribes” lost their ______identity.
  • The ______conquered Assyria and the Kingdom of Judah, destroying Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
  • Many upper-class captives were sent to ______.
  • After the ______conquered the Chaldeans, the people of Judah were permitted to return to Jerusalem.
  • The Kingdom of ______was reborn and the temple rebuilt.
  • The people of Judah survived even conquest by ______, eventually becoming known as the Jews and giving their name to Judaism.
  • Jewish belief says there is one God, ______.
  • The belief in only one God is called ______.
  • Yahweh ______and ruled the world.
  • God, however, was not in nature; natural phenomena were not divine.
  • All ______were Yahweh’s servants, not just a certain tribe or nation.
  • Three important aspects of the Jewish religion were the ______, the law, and the ______.
  • The covenant was the ______between God and his people.
  • The Jews could fulfill the covenant by obeying the law of God, stated in the ______.
  • The Jews believed that ______, called prophets, were sent by God.
  • The prophets believed that unjust actions would bring God’s ______.
  • The prophets also added a new element to the Jewish tradition.
  • Prophets like ______expressed concern for all humanity and the hope that someday all people would follow the law of the God of Israel in a time of peace.
  • People would show compassion to one another.
  • They also would care for social justice and the condition of the poor and unfortunate.
  • The religion of Israel was unique among the religions of western Asia and Egypt.
  • Its most distinctive feature was its monotheism.
  • Further, the ideas of Judaism were ______down, so people besides priests and rulers could have religious knowledge and know God’s will.
  • The Jews also would ______accept the gods or goddesses of their neighbors.

Section 4: The Rise of New Empires